Collapsible garment hanger



J. B. MOPHERSON ICOLLAPSIBLE GARMENT HANGER Filed June 14, 1947INVENTOR. JOHN B. M PHE RS ON BY M v ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 2, 1951COLLAPSIBLE GARMENT HANGER John B. McPherson, Abington, Pa... assignor,by direct and mesne assignments, of one-half to Lester B. Meyerhoff,Elkins Park, Pa., and onehalf to Natalie R. Meyer-huff, Elkins Park, Pa.

Application June 14, 1947, Serial No. 754,673

This invention relates togarment hangers of the collapsible type.

One of the objects is the provision of a hanger having spring heldpivoted arms arranged to be moved relatively to each other against theaction of a spring, which is of sufficient strength to bias the load oia garment supported on the arms, the arrangement being such that it mayreadily be inserted into the neck opening of a buttoned garment to behung thereon by partially collapsing the arms, or a garment may beremoved from the hanger by pulling the garment or hanger relative toeach other to swing an arm or both about a pivotal point to permit thewithdrawal of the hanger through the neck opening of the garment duringthe movement of the arms towards each other against the action of thespring.

Another object of m invention is the provision of a hanger in which thegarment supporting arms can be moved towards each other and then securedto each other for packing into a shorter space.

Having now described, in a general way, the nature and purpose of thisinvention, I will proceed, for illustrative purposes, to a detaileddescription of several embodiments thereof with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of one form of hanger in accordance with myinvention with a portion broken away;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1 with a portionbroken away;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of another form of hanger with the arms andthe supporting hook broken off;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of another form of hanger formed of acontinuous piece of spring wire;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 6 is a side elevation similar to Fig. 3 showing another form ofpivotal connection between the supporting arms.

In Figs. 1 and 2 I have shown a form having two arms In and II which maybe formed of wood, plastic, sheet-metal or from any other suitablematerial, and may be channel-shaped throughout and especially if made ofplastic material or shaped in dies if made of sheet metal or othermaterial.

In the form shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the arms are formed of wood and areconnected to each pther by a U-shaped member l2 having flanges 2 Claims.(Cl. 22394) l 4 extending from a web Hi. The flanges I4 straddle theends of the arms which are ipivotally mounted between the flanges onrivets or screws I8 extending through the flanges and the straddled endsof the arms. The web l6 of the channel member is spaced a sufiicientdistance above the arms to provide clearance for the ends of the armsIll and II when they are swung into engagement with each other to besecured for packing or to permit the arms to be inserted into the neckopening of a garment or to be drawn through. the neck opening of agarment.

The pivot ends of the arms In and H are recessed as partially shown bythe broken away portions in Figs. 1 and 2 for the reception of a coilspring 20 having legs 22 engaging the wall of the recess in the arms I0and II to spread and hold the arms in their spread positions. The spring20 is coiled about a core 24 which is secured in position by a rivet 26extending through the flanges [4 of the U-shaped member l2.

Rotatably mounted in the web I6 of the U-shaped member I2 is asupporting hook 26 by which the hanger is supported from a rod or othersupporting member.

In Fig. 3 I have shown another form of spring 20* for holding the arms10* and H in their spread or extended positions. The ends of the arms Hiand ll are also pivoted to the flanges W of a U-shaped member l2 at I8and the ends of the arms l0 and H are recessed for the reception oftension spring 20*, each end of the spring being secured to the bottomof the recess in one of the arms ID or I I.

In both of the above forms, both arms are arranged to swing relative tothe U-shaped member, but, if desired, either of the arms may be securedto the flanges of the U-shaped member so that the other arm would befree to swing relative to the U-shaped member and the arm securedthereto.

In Figs. 4 and 5 I have illustrated a hanger formed of spring wirehaving arms 10 and ll centrally connected to each other by a coil 20 Thearm it! extends from one end of the coil while the arm I I extends fromthe other end of the coil. The supporting book 26 is provided with aloop 32 which embraces the coil 20 so that the arms Ii) and I 1 are ineffect pivoted to each other intermediate their ends.

The end of the arm ll is coiled so that substantially one-half of thecoil is above the plane of the arm and one-half below the plane of thearm while the end of the wire is bent to substan- 3 tlally extend in theplane of the arm while the bends at 34 and 36 at the ends of the coilengage each other to close the coil.

In Fig. 6 I have illustrated another means for pivotally connecting thearms I!) and I I to each other and in which hinge members 34 and 35 areconnected to the. ends of the arms 10 and He, respectively, both arms [6and H are provided with aligned through openings above the hinge andseated therein is a tension spring 2t, each end being secured to an arm[0} or ll by a rivet or nail 36. The supporting hook 26 is seated in agroove in the end ofarm It? and is retained therein by means of staples38,

In all of the forms shown, the springs forre-;

taining the garment supporting arms extended or spread for supporting agarment, the tension of the spring is sufficient to retain the arms inposition for supporting a garment but may be suf-. ficiently flexible toperfnit one arm to be moved relative to. he oth r o draw t han er ttlreuh tbenee s en n 'ef he arm n upn rt e her enter to insert a ane rintothe ee s el i of a. arment closed at he rent. y bu en o herwise by vinen m tqverd t e O her- '-What claim and d r t prote t by ter Eatenti V acella si le arme ha e h ng 1 nes te y dis cs dr d rms a i e ed. U ha dmem stre dl n the ad cent en s of h means tor ei etallv tenn t ne t vstraddled. of h t9 the. ha ed me ber a helical tastier; st ing e ttittmw i sed w 1. 6

4 ber secured to the U-shaped member and passing through and supportingsaid spring, the ends of said spring abutting respectively against saidarms so as to bias them upwardly continuously and a supporting hookconnected to the U -shaped mem ber.

' 1 951 9 rment h nge b l positely disposed rigid arms, an invertedU-shaped member straddling the adjacent ends of the arms,

means for pivotally connecting the straddled ends of both arms to theU-shaped member, a helical torsion spring, a horizontally disposed coremember secpred to the l t-shaped member and passing through: andsupporting said spring, the ends of saidspring. being receivedrespectively in recesses in sai arms and abutting respectively againstsaid so as to bias them upwardly continuously and a supporting hookconnected to the u shaped member.

JOHN B. McPHERSON.

REFERENCES organ,

The fo lewiee retest-te are f we i t file o t pa ent;

